Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Boys from Gbeogo record a moral victory in narrow defeat

Sport has long been identified as a powerful and relatively low-cost means of
fostering greater inclusion and well-being for persons with disabilities,
and following on from the LIFE Project’s successful integration of disabled
people into last December’s Feok Festival, the team agreed that hosting an
exhibition match between an impaired team and an able-bodied side as part of
the community’s celebration of Ghanaian independence would be a fantastic opportunity
to showcase the talents of people with disabilities whilst ensuring their
inclusion into mainstream cultural life.

So, after weeks of
preparation and planning, on the 4th March, just two days before the
57th anniversary of Ghana’s independence, Global Stars F.C. a local
team based in Sandema, managed by Sampson Akatara Omega (who plays for Wiaga
United, in the Ghanaian Second Division), hosted Gbeogo Deaf [pronounced Bay-go], assembled from the ranks
of the students attending the Gbeogo School for the Deaf in the Tongo Hills
area of the Upper East region.

By 15:45, with kick-off
scheduled for 16:00, the footballing cathedral that is Sandema Stadium was
awash with nerves as the pre-match tension reached fever pitch...because nobody, neither
spectators nor players, had turned up yet.

You could cut the tension with a knife

But we need not have
worried, both clubs arrived and spectators, including several elders from the
Chief’s palace, eventually descended on the stadium in droves, and the match
did indeed kick-off at 16:00 GMT (Ghana Maybe Time), or 17:00 GMT (Greenwich
Mean Time), under the watchful eye of Maurice, one of our fellow volunteers at
LIFE, and his team of match officials.

In the opening
exchanges, Global Stars (playing in the strip of F.C. St. Pauli, kindly donated
by the German club from Hamburg) were overawed by their opponents, perhaps
intimidated by Gbeogo’s eerily silent and efficient gesticular methods of
communication, as they were beaten to every loose ball, coming off second best
in every challenge, and struggling to deal with the deaf side’s crisp passing
and powerful running.However, Gbeogo (playing
in Chelsea’s yellow alternate kit) suffered from over-confidence and lost
possession in midfield with both of their full-backs pushed high up the pitch,
leaving their centre-backs overwhelmed by a devastating counter-attack which
left the Global Stars centre-forward with just the keeper to beat, before he
tumbled in the box, and was adjudged to have had his ankles clipped by the
pursuing defender. The penalty was powerfully dispatched, leaving the keeper no
chance, and somehow, Gbeogo found themselves 1-0 down after 5 minutes of play.

An early penalty for the Global Stars

Although
Global Stars remained dangerous on the counter and displayed flashes of
brilliance, Gbeogo Deaf dominated the rest of the match, battling hard to control
the midfield and exploit the flanks with a number of well aimed diagonal balls
beyond the full-backs to release their pacey wingers, crafting a number of
golden opportunities following passages of scintillating wing-play. Gbeogo’s captain,
a skilful left-wing-back, proved particularly difficult for the Stars to deal
with, but Gbeogo lacked a cutting edge and the Stars maintained a well
organised and resolute defensive shape, managing to see the game out to claim a
stubborn 1-0 victory.

Gbeogo's tricky winger waltzes his way down the left flank

As the final whistle blew, the Global Stars
trotted off the pitch to receive the crowds applause, medals from one of the Paramount Chief’s most
senior elders, and a certificate signed by the Chief himself, as well as a stern dressing down from Sampson for failing to control the game more effectively.

Global Stars, magnanimous in victory

Sammy, the Gbeogo manager,also signed his disappointment to his players in their
post-match team-talk. It was interesting that he kept repeating “you have won,
you have won”. By this he meant that they played well enough to have won the game, and would have done, had
they been more clinical in front of goal. However, as Sammy signed these words
to his boys, and the players’ spirits rose as they received praise from the
crowd, I think they held a deeper resonance. The objectives of the event were
to include people with disabilities into one of Ghana’s most important cultural
events, and demonstrate their qualities and abilities to a wider audience. By
travelling away from home and outplaying an able-bodied side in front of a
large crowd of spectators, I think it’s safe to say that the Gbeogo School for
the Deaf had fulfilled this mission. They had, indeed, won the day.